Game decides which auction house gets the work

Page Tools

A Japanese electronics company that decided to offer its art
collection through Christie's after the auction house beat
Sotheby's in a game of rock paper scissors sold four pieces for
$US17.8 million ($22.8 million).

Takashi Hashiyama, the president of Maspro Denkoh Corp, had
asked Sotheby's and Christie's to each choose a weapon - rock,
paper or scissors - because he could not decide which auction house
to use.

"I sometimes use such methods when I cannot make a decision,"
Hashiyama told The New York Times. "As both companies were
equally good and I just could not choose one, I asked them to
please decide between themselves and suggested to use such methods
as rock paper scissors."

Using a game of chance to make a decision is not unusual in
Japan. At a meeting earlier this year, the auction houses were
asked to make their selections and write them down.

The World Rock Paper Scissors Society dubbed the contest the RPS
match of the century. Christie's chose scissors, defeating
Sotheby's paper. In the game scissors cut paper, paper smothers
rock, and rock smashes scissors. And so the collection was sold on
Wednesday in New York City as part of Christie's sale of
Impressionist and modern art.

The centrepiece of the collection, Paul Cezanne's Les grands
arbres au Jas de Bouffan, sold for $US11.8 million, a
spokeswoman for the auction house, Sara Fox, said.

The company's Alfred Sisley piece, La manufacture de
Sevres, sold for $US1.6 million.

Pablo Picasso's Boulevard de Clichy went for $US1.7
million and Vincent van Gogh's Vue de la chambre de l'artiste,
rue Lepic went for $US2.7 million.

The identities of the winning bidders were not immediately
released. The auction also included pieces that were not part of
the Japanese company's collection (see story right).